This invention relates to a new and distinct variety of carnation plant, named Jun Sakura, which is a sport of the cultivar Scania, a non-patented, commercially available, red colored carnation of the "Sim" family.
This sport was discovered and selected because of its distinct, pleasing pink color from a flowering of Scania in commercial greenhouses in Salinas, Calif. on Jan. 12, 1982. The closest commercial cultivar in color to the new sport of which I am aware is the carnation Soana Baranna, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 3,534, granted in 1974. The distinguishing characteristics which are outstanding in the new cultivar and which distinguish it from Scania and Soana Baranna are as follows:
1. It has a darker pink flower color than Soana Baranna. Scania is red.
2. It is less prone to color fading under high light, high temperature conditions than Soana Baranna.
3. Foliage is curled, darker green than Soana Baranna and is longer and broader when uncurled and measured. The foliage is typically curled as in most Sim cultivars.
4. Pinched plants are 3" to 5" taller from the same plant date than Soana Baranna.
5. Flower diameter averages 0.75 cm larger and crown is higher than Soana Baranna.
6. Bloom date is 7-10 days faster from the same plant date than Soana Baranna.
7. Flowers of Jun Sakura split and bullhead less under fluctuating temperatures than Soana Baranna.
Asexual reproduction and flowerings of this new cultivar by side shoot cuttings rooted in peat and "Perlite" under mist were performed under our direction at Fremont, Calif. in commercial greenhouses. The new cultivar was found to retain its distinctive characteristics as listed herein through successive propagations.